


Upright and Locked Positions

by xIrelandx (orphan_account)



Category: Soul Eater
Genre: Angst, Crack, Crona is a creeper, Drama, F/M, Grief, Humour, Loss, Love Triangle, Pining, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-07-23
Updated: 2012-07-23
Packaged: 2017-11-10 14:08:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/467168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/xIrelandx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Crona is now on Shinigami's list. Oh, Crud. Well, that should turn out well with few poor reactions and little insanity, amiright? Nope. Some CroMa. Eventual SoMa. Possible hints of TsuStar and Kid/Liz.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Maka blacked out. That was the first thing that happened. Soul caught her and held her against his chest while Tsubaki and Black*Star tried their best to wake her up – Tsubaki being kind and gentle, Black*Star being…well, Black*Star. Nothing was working. Soul eventually gave up and carried her home, bridal-style, insisting it was just from shock. He didn't want to think what else it could possibly be.

He dropped her on the couch, hoping she'd wake up then. She stared straight ahead, unblinking at the ceiling.

He sighed. "Come on, Maka…you had to know this was coming. Not that we all didn't hope it wasn't going to…" Soul looked around their apartment, unusually empty. Not just devoid of Blair, but of any chores that needed to be done. He knew that Maka had a tendency to do the little things like laundry and dusting when she was stressed out. He guess he just hadn't realized how stressed she'd been lately. He thought he'd been keeping a better eye on her.

Soul sat on the floor next to the couch. "I guess you, more than anyone else in our group was afraid of this." He tilted his head boredly, staring at the carpet. He began tracing circles that became wobbly circles that became bent and broken circles that became hearts. "You really love him…don't you…Shinigami knows you'd never do this if it were me." He snorted and used his palms to push himself up. "I still don't get what the attraction is…" He looked at her sleeping form before heading for the kitchen to find some dishes to do. "Whatever."

X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X

Maka floated along a dark passageway that reminded her a lot of the pictures she'd seen of space. She couldn't feel anything. She wasn't even sure if she could move. But she could hear.

"Maka…Maka… Come here, Maka."

"Soul?" she moaned.

X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X

Soul leaned over the counter to look at Maka. He could have sworn that he heard her say his name, could have sworn that he felt some sort of movement within her soul. But she looked the same. He shrugged and said again, "Whatever."

X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X

"No, of course not, why would he be in here?"

"Crona?" Maka opened her eyes, until then unaware they'd even been closed. "Crona…how are you here? Where are you, really? Are you okay?"

Crona came into view, looking as insane as ever. "You let me into your heart…I'm in your soul. That's the thing about trusting people-" Crona's right eye became bigger, his left became smaller. His smile grew even more jagged and his arms dropped to his side. "Once you let them in, they never come out…unless they tear you apart." His hands clapped and he stretched them out in front of himself. "Isn't that wonderful? Tick-tock, how long 'til your friends break your inner clock?"

Maka took a protective stance before realizing that Soul wasn't with her. She had no way of protecting herself. "You need to leave, Crona. You're invading my privacy."

"What makes you think you're not invading mine? What makes you think you don't like this?"

"You're a traitor, Crona…you betrayed us all. You're on Shinigami's list. Get out of my soul, before Medusa uses you to corrupt me."

"You already are corrupted, Maka," He whispered. "You didn't need my help or my mother's to become corrupted…poor girl…driven by anger…and envy, too… But mostly, you run on a self-righteous need to know that you're better than everyone else. You even think you're better than Soul…" Crona came closer to Maka, cupping her face in his hands. "Of course, you are… So lovely… Your soul, so pure… So easy to corrupt… So naïve… So smart… You'd make a great edition." Crona floated away. "I'll let you think about it…but you should probably return before Soul burns the kitchen down."

X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X

Maka woke up with a startled scream. By now, Soul had been sitting on the couch for twenty minutes, watching a documentary on the love lives of animals. He wasn't all that interested, but it was a lot more interesting (and a lot less depressing) than watching the evening news. He really wished he could be worried or even surprised that Maka woke up screaming, but these days, feeling concerned about anyone waking up screaming would seem like a bit of an over exaggeration.

"Feel better now?"

Maka nursed her head, shaking it. "No…not really. I actually kinda feel like I've been hit in the head with a sledgehammer." She smiled weakly at Soul. "I hope that's the last time I do that." Soul shrugged, turning back to the TV. Maka's smile fell. _Did he hear what I was dreaming?_


	2. Chapter 2

Soul was the next one to feel his sanity slipping. He didn't black out like Maka did (an occurrence that was getting more frequent and, for Soul more annoying), but he did have little moments where the demon almost seemed to come out into the real world, and he was found talking to himself about the strangest things…like shoes and socks with holes in them.

Soul was used to holding the insanity in. Maka always came to his defence against many others who found him creepy or commented on how 'crazy' he looked, but the truth was that he really was cracked, and he had no idea why. It all seemed to affect him more than it did anyone else in their group and he felt the need to keep it secret.

Lying: Another one of those wonderful perks of going batshit insane that Soul absolutely loathed. Ever since the whole experience with Medusa, Soul hated lying to Maka. It made him feel…dirty. But in truth, Soul didn't know how he could both keep Maka safe and keep her informed of what he was going through. Especially when the thoughts in his head _were_ so dirty. _Oh go on, she's your meister,_ the little demon goaded. _That means she belongs to you, and you to her…Those things are kinda cool nowadays Soul, so what are you waiting for?_

"Oh shut _up!_ "

Black*Star blinked. "Sorry dude, didn't mean to offend you or anything. I still don't think your hair naturally stands up like that. I mean, mine doesn't." Tsubaki shushed him.

Maka tilted her head to the side, urging the others to go ahead with a hand wave. Soul was, like Maka a few days ago, nursing his head. "Soul…I know you don't want to talk to me –" she paused, hoping he was going to prove her wrong. When he didn't, she just sighed and shook her head. "But I think you should talk to someone. Like, maybe Nygus. She is a teacher, after all."

Soul would have waved the notion off if Nygus hadn't been standing right behind them. "Talk to me about what?"

Maka waved away, promising to get dinner started. Soul turned around slowly, not really sure this was something he wanted to talk to a girl – let alone a teacher – about, not that he really wanted to tell anyone at all. "So, what's on your mind, Soul?"

"Well… I've begun to have… F- Feelings."

Nygus nodded, but looked behind her. "I'm sorry Soul, is this something you'd feel more comfortable talking to Sid or maybe Stein about?"

 _Really? I get to talk to a zombie or a nutjob?_ "Or even Spirit, but all things considered –"

"I think Sid would be easiest to talk to."

X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X

Nygus lead Soul down the hall to, Soul assumed, Sid's office. She knocked on the door three times before poking her head in. "Sid? Soul would like to talk to you about…feelings."

"Huh? You're the doctor, aren't pains kind of your area? Besides, I'm dead. I can't really feel anything –"

" _Not_ those _kinds of feelings, sweetie,_ " she hissed. The sudden image of Sid and Nygus together popped into Soul's mind. He slapped his face and made an odd sort of squeaking sound. It was not the kind of image he'd ever wanted in his head, and now he wasn't sure how to get it out.

Nygus gestured towards Soul, as if his sound was a hint as to the possible monstrosities possible if Sid didn't give him a talk of some sort. Soul could have sworn he was blushing, but as Sid himself pointed out, he was dead. Soul wasn't sure there was any way for Sid to blush.

"Oh. That."

"Yes. That."

"Oh. Um. Okay. Send him in, Nygus."

"No problem!" Soul was bothered by her sudden cheerfulness and wondered if these sorts of mood swings were things all girls did. Maka certainly did it a lot. He had been hoping they would stop at some point. He was beginning to think not.

"Come on in, Soul."


	3. Chapter 3

Soul sat down on a slightly de-stuffed office chair and avoided Sid's eyes as much as possible.

"So, Soul…I hear you're having…feelings?"

Soul shrugged with one shoulder. "Yeah. I believe Nygus just came in here and told you that."

Sid squirmed. "Yeah. I'd call you out on being a smartass, but I might be a bit of one too right now. I'm not comfortable with talking about this kind of thing. I never have been. That's the kind of man I was – modest. I don't know how I ever got through the talk with Black*Star."

"Wait – what?"

"Oh," Sid put a hand on his head, leaning on his desk. "Black*Star…I kind of adopted him as a child…I was kind of instrumental in killing off his clan."

"Then why is he such a jerk to you?"

"He thinks it'll make his street cred go up or, you know, something."

"O-kay."

"So. As you get older, you, uh, grow. In certain ways. You know, physically. And emotionally. And mentally, because you become more curious. And you want to know about things. Things like girls. Or other boys, if that's how you roll."

Soul shook his head vigorously. "No, no – I'm just…the Black Blood is making me have horrible thoughts about –" he paused. Should he tell Sid who he was having these thoughts about? "I can't really talk around – I feel… _constricted_ around Maka."

"Yeah," Sid sighed. "I was afraid of that. You see, whenever insanity gets to be too much, the intensity in relationships – especially that between male and female partners – is raised to the point most nearly strangle each other to death. For some reason, it isn't as common an occurrence with male and male or female and female partnerships. Unless the two have really clashing personalities, and those kinds of fights are the worst. We try to avoid those kinds of partnerships nowadays."

"So," Soul felt a lot lighter. "These feelings are just temporary? They're going to go away, right?"

Sid shook his head. "No. You know that isn't how it works. Insanity plays with your mind – your insecurities, your attractions, your embarrassments, and your pride. It doesn't create anything. These feelings you have were already there, and they aren't going to go away. They're just going to get more intense. You may not be able to hold them in much longer. I don't think you'll do anything horrible with them, but it still might be easier if you let your feelings out."

"But –" Soul couldn't think straight. He scratched his head. "But – I don't – I can't show my feelings."

"Why not?"

"My family isn't exactly what you'd call emotionally supportive." Soul muttered.

There was another awkward pause. Soul definitely didn't want Sid trying to talk to him about sex again. "Isn't there somebody you could tell? A friend, maybe?" Soul glared. "Yeah, okay, I just thought I'd check – well, wait. What about Maka? She's your partner, she could help you if you start going into fits."

Soul didn't say anything. For a moment, he just concentrated on Sid's desk, wondering just how dense the zombie was. "What if…the person that I…have these feelings for…likes somebody else?"

 _Now_ Sid seemed to get it. "Oh. Well. In that case – I don't know." Soul actually growled at him. "I'm sorry, Soul. I really don't know what to say, accept good luck in holding your feelings in, and if you need someone to talk to, my door is always open."

"Thanks, Sid. That makes me feel better."

"I know I haven't been much help, Soul, but I really don't appreciate the sarcasm –"

"I wasn't being sarcastic this time, sir."

"Oh." Sid muddled about. "Well. I'm glad."

X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X

Marie organized her desk with a slight smile on her face. Maka couldn't sense an order. "Ms. Marie, are you making…a butterfly?" Her smile got wider and she nodded. Maka sat still and tried not to have a panic attack.

Marie let out a small whistle when she was done. "Now, Maka, what did you want to talk to me about?"

She sat up straight. "Ms. Marie, what do you do if you…love the wrong person?"

"The wrong person?" her face crumpled in confusion. "I don't think there is a wrong kind of person to love…do you mean like, an older or younger person from you, or a family member, or a member of the same gender – not that there's anything wrong with that, we'll all love and accept you –"

"No!" Maka blushed. "I mean, what if you like…someone who is bad? Like they're on the wrong side?"

"That really depends on where you're looking from. Very few things are right or wrong, black or white. Most things are a sort of gray middle area, since it's always debatable as to who is doing the moral thing and who is doing the amoral thing."

"I don't think I understand."

"Let me see if I can make this clearer. Stein isn't bad, is he?"

"No…"

"Stein likes to dismember and dissect things. And he's a bit insane, but he's moral from our standards. He follows the rules, he really does care about his students, and he's a good teacher, isn't he?"

"Yes."

"And then, there are people like Crona." Maka squirmed uncomfortably. "Crona isn't a bad person. He's an unfortunate one. He hasn't had a very good life, and he's conflicted."

"So why are we killing him? Does that seem fair to you? It isn't his fault that he's turned out the way he has, it's Medusa's!"

Marie shook her head. "I agree with you, Maka. It isn't fair, but everyone reaches a point in time in their life where they can discern from themselves that they are doing good or doing bad. Crona knew the difference while he was at Shibusen, and he knew the difference when he betrayed us." Maka started crying. "Maka, what's wrong?"

"Ms Marie, what if I love Crona?"

"When you say love –"

"I have daydreams. He appears in my head without needing my permission. I feel his soul wavelength even when he isn't here. He messes with my head. He betrayed us, he doesn't remember me – if he met me, he'd try to kill me. But I can't stop thinking about him. It scares me, because I don't know what to do…It's part of the insanity. I know it is."

Marie straightened up, looking at her seriously. "You connected with Crona because the two of you have both had very traumatic experiences in your childhood. You were bothered by seeing your father cheating on your mother, which has broken your trust in nearly everyone – everyone but Soul and Crona. Crona was disturbed by…well, he had Medusa as a mother. I think that explains itself." Maka nodded.

"I agree about the insanity – insomuch as it is heightening your feelings. It doesn't necessarily mean that you're in love with Crona, just that you have strong feelings regarding him. Aren't you experiencing strong feelings towards anybody else?" she hinted.

Maka blushed. "I've always…had strong feelings…about Soul. But…those aren't new."

Marie waved it off. "You've been worrying about Crona, so you're thinking about him more often than usual. You're not used to suppressing your feelings about him, but you are used to suppressing your feelings for Soul, so holding that in won't hurt as much."

"Wait a minute, I didn't say I had feelings _for_ Soul!"

"Oh please, Maka! I can sense everything! Now you better run along home before Soul gets suspicious!"


	4. Chapter 4

"Good evening, Maka," Crona was floating in front of her once again, but he looked different from usual. He'd died his pink hair black and put on a white suit. "Do you like it? I figured that pink wasn't very manly. And my robe looked like a dress." He dusted his suit off with his hand. "Won't you please sit down?"

Two chairs – nothing special, just the kind of chairs you'd find around a dining room table – appeared on a white floor. Crona floated down toward the second one. Maka found herself seated at the first. "It's been awhile."

"It's been a day," Maka corrected. She couldn't feel herself talking. No words even appeared in her mind. They just came out of her mouth, like some sort of winged insects trying to escape. She wanted to shudder at the thought, but she didn't seem capable of independent movement. "Why do you keep coming back? I keep telling you that you're not welcome here."

Crona simply tilted his head, closing his eyes, a small smile creeping up lopsidedly. "Because I know you're just saying things. You really do want me here." Maka shook her head. "There's no point in denying it. I can see your soul. I can sense your thoughts and fears, and everything you want. And you want me."

"No," her words were now trickling from a leaky faucet. "I wanted to know you were safe. I wanted to know Medusa wasn't harming you. I wanted you to come back to Shibusen –"

"In short, you want me." Crona was now leaning, his face only centimetres from Maka. She felt herself heating up, blushing, and sweating. "And it's okay, Maka. Don't be ashamed…" he leaned so that his lips were touching Maka's, but not too closely; he needed enough room to whisper "I want you, too" before forcing his lips on hers.

X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X

Maka sat up quickly and her head collided with something else very solid and very human.

"Ouch – shit – are you okay?"

"Erg…Soul, what are you doing in here?"

The part of Soul's cheeks right below his eyes slowly started turning the same colour as his eyes. "I was…checking on you…"

Maka, too, was blushing. "Why?"

He stuck his hands in the pockets of his sweatpants and looked down. Maka looked at him more closely and realized he was shirtless. Normally the scar through his chest bothered her to the point of tears, but she was now more distracted by the rest of his torso. _Has he always been so well-built?_

"I heard you talking. More like screaming," he mumbled, "about Crona in your sleep. And was wondering, if maybe, your soul was sensing him. If you knew where he was…"

_He's like, half-naked…wait, this never bothered me before, so why is it bothering me now?_ "Uhm, no, sorry."

Soul blinked. Maka knew that if she really concentrated her mind, she could find Crona. Soul knew that too. "If you say so." Soul spoke slowly, waiting for Maka to change her mind and tell him what her dream was about. Maka knew that she should. She knew that dreams like the ones she was having were rarely, if ever, just dreams. She knew that Soul knew she was hiding things from him, she knew she was worrying him, and she knew she should tell him the truth.

But she still wasn't going to. "Trust me, Soul. When have I ever lied to you?"

"You mean like you are now?" _Dammit, Soul, why couldn't you just play along?_

Maka threw herself out of her bed and tried to leave the room. Soul grabbed her and pulled her to his chest. She squealed a bit and tried to kick him away, but he pinned her against the wall so he could look her in the eyes. "Dammit! Maka, why don't you trust me?"

"I do trust you, Soul. Why don't you trust me?"

"Because I know that you're lying!" Maka stopped squirming and looked up at him. His face looked…weird. His eyes looked like Doctor Stein's did whenever he was particularly worried about something, usually the rising insanity within him. But he also looked…

Hurt. Soul looked crushed. His cheeks were soft pink. He was not grimacing, but frowning. "I can see your dreams. I don't know why. I think it has something to do with that little demon, but I keep seeing your dreams, too. D'you think I enjoy watching your conversations with Crona, and how much you love him and miss him and how–" Soul's face looked completely insane by now. His grip around her shoulders tightened, but she could sense in his soul that it was fear of being consumed by the madness, not him trying to actually hurt her. She felt so sad, looking at how upset he was.

"Why won't you tell me the truth, Maka?"

She looked back up at his eyes. Tears were dropping silently from her eyes. "I'm – I'm so sorry, Soul. I do trust you." She wrapped her arms around his back and let her head fall on his chest so she could hear his heartbeat. It was fast but slowly, as he put his arms around her, returned to normal.

"I'm sorry too" he muttered into her hair.

"I don't know what to do."

Soul shrugged out of her hug with a bizarre smile on his face. "Just don't lie to me anymore, okay? I'm not gonna judge you or anything. If that's who you like, I guess I can accept that,"

"Soul, I don't –"

"But lying to your partner is so uncool." He was trying awfully hard to smile, but Maka wasn't buying it.

"Soul, I never said that I liked Crona." Soul twitched uncomfortably, trying not to look at Maka.

_He's so cute when he's nervous._ Maka kissed Soul on the cheek. "Don't worry, I'll keep you informed from now on." Soul shuffled around before heading back to bed.


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning at school, things really started to get strange. Not to say that they weren't already – this wasn't, after all, your typical school. But the school, which was usually perfectly even and pristine, was now…not. It now looked rusty and old, and ready to fall apart. Soul wondered, as he walked through the halls, how Kid could possibly have let this happen.

"Hey Liz, where's Kid?"

Liz was dressed…unusually. It wasn't that the outfit didn't fit her personality, but that Kid would never have let her go out of the house looking how she did.

"I dunno," Liz said, blowing and popping a bubble. "I don't know if he ever even got up this morning. I know he doesn't have to be here and all, but he should still at least show up while he's enrolled."

Soul cocked his head strangely, getting lost in thought. Kid not showing up at school? The hallways looking a mess? Something was really wrong.

Liz, looking at one of the posters on the board, put her hand casually on her hip, inadvertently pushing her skirt down. When she caught Soul staring, she simply smirked at him. Soul's head jerked up and he blushed at her. "I'll see you later, Liz?"

"I bet you will, Soul."

X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X

The more Soul thought about it, the more obvious it was that something was wrong with the school. Not only was the building itself wrong, but the people in it were acting strangely as well. It was like he'd fallen down some sort of hole and found himself in the wrong version of Shibusen, and to make things worse, he couldn't find Maka.

Maka had left long before him this morning. He was hoping he'd find her talking to Kid. In reality, he supposed, he was simply hoping against hope that she was forming a plan to find Crona, even if that plan didn't involve killing Crona.

But there was no such luck; Soul did finally find Kid, hanging upside down on a chair in the library. His hands were crossed and lying on his stomach.

"Hey Kid," Soul approached cautiously. "You okay?"

"Hm?" Kid looked up at him, that same bored expression on his face, as always. "Oh, yes, I'm just…thinking."

"Okay," Soul looked around the room, trying not to sigh or groan in exasperation. "Have you seen Maka?"  
Kid shrugged.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Soul asked with a snort. "Either you've seen her or you haven't."

"People have been coming and going all day…I haven't exactly been keeping track."

Soul blinked at him. "Kid…what's wrong with you? What's wrong with everybody?"  
"I'm not sure I know what you mean."

"Haven't you noticed that everyone's been acting strangely?"

"No, actually. I haven't."

Soul let his jaw hang open in surprise for a few seconds before closing it. The little demon in his head was beginning to giggle. "Okay. Whatever, man. See you later." Kid didn't even bother to respond.

X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x

Black*Star looked at the bulletin boards in the hall, wondering if there were any new assignments he and Tsubaki could take on. Lately, Black*Star had been feeling numb about everything. He hadn't even had the energy to yell at anyone, and that was something Black*Star liked doing best.

Tsubaki bounced up to Black*Star, narrowing her eyes to scan for assignments. She looked at one with more stars than she and Black*Star combined had, and pointed to it. "What's this one?" she asked.

Black*Star looked up to see what she was pointing at. He shrugged. "Some pre-kishin with a weird building theme is going all around the world, trying to destroy national monuments. I think some four-star Death Scythes were put on it." _I didn't even know there was such a thing as a four-star Death Weapon and Meister pairing,_ Black*Star thought to himself. "It's supposed to be really dangerous. Rumour has it even Lord Death doesn't know if anyone can beat him. That's just a story though, I think."

Tsubaki growled in anger, tearing down the assignment sheet from the board. "I don't care how dangerous they think it is! I want this one!" Black*Star blinked, taken aback.

"Tsubaki, someone's already claimed that. I like being the star as much as the next guy, but I'm not going to go butt in on someone else's assignment unless they need help –"

"I don't remember asking for your approval, Black*Star. I want this assignment, so we are going to take it!"

X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X

"So, we're back here again?"

Maka glared at Crona. "I need to talk to you."

Crona smiled smugly. "As you wish," He made a swooping gesture with his hand toward two chairs that looked slightly more comfortable than the ones he and Maka sat on the last time they met. "So, about what are we speaking today?"

"Where are you?"

Crona laughed. "I expected you to take longer to get to that question." His face turned grim. "Are you sure you even want to know where I am?"

Maka nodded sternly. "Good," Crona cooed. "Because I miss you too." Maka didn't have time to react and, if she were going to be completely honest with herself, wasn't sure she would have if she'd been able to. Crona moved toward her and started kissing her again. Maka sat passively, not sure of what she was supposed to do.

Crona drew back. "Come on Maka. It's just a daydream, right?" Maka cringed but this time, she kissed Crona back, slipping her tongue in to feel his, running her hands through his hair, and trying to get used to the pleasantly weird feeling it gave her.

Maka heard a small noise coming from behind her. She wasn't sure what to call it – a shriek? A growl? A sob? She broke away from Crona and turned to look. She could feel it. She knew who it was. "Soul –" Suddenly, Maka felt very guilty. She'd completely forgotten that every time she dreamt about something, willingly or not, Soul saw it. She couldn't understand all the mechanics about it, but she knew Soul didn't appreciate the feeling or what he was seeing. She knew that Soul didn't like or trust Crona. She felt her heart disappear.

Maka tried to run off in the direction of the noise, but Crona grabbed onto her wrist. "Where do you think you're going?"

"To find my partner. What do you think you're doing?"

"Stopping you." Crona started to pull her back. "You're mine. You belong to me."

Maka twisted her wrist around and jerked it down out of Crona's hand. She pulled the back of his shirt over his head and then kicked him away. "You're wrong, Crona." Maka spit. "I don't belong to anybody, and I certainly don't belong to you."

Maka began to run, but Crona quickly caught up with her. "No, you're wrong. You love me, so you belong to me." Maka growled violently, her skin becoming bright red and hot. Her arm suddenly transformed into a blade of its own, tearing up Crona's arm, somehow making him bleed red blood.

"If that's how these things work, then I also belong to Soul," she panted. "And I'd much rather belong to him than you. You've changed, Crona." She kicked him back and began to run. As she ran away, she tried to wish herself away from this dream. As wetness clung to her face, she whispered to herself, "and unlike me, you changed willingly."


End file.
